Artist Statement

I make sardonic parodies of modern art and media, specifically targeting an average America consumer. I do this by producing and filming my own painting program; in character, I use humor to make art that is overly accessible to counteract the art market tendency to limit access to the social and economic elite. This is achieved by giving time and dedication to painting/filming intellectually void, cliché subject matter with master execution. I am intentionally making paintings that have no defense or explanation, as a complete dismissal of the notion that art needs an explanation to be valid.

These paintings are usually very surreal and many are created by suggestions from strangers, or their metamorphosis comes from story arcs of the characters on the show. I present the paintings under pseudonym characters for my interpretation of a Bob Ross style show. The artist’s personalities on the show often influence the paintings subject matter. My own last name “Dickinson” is parodied as well, for all the fictional artists that I portray on the show PaintPaintPaint also have unfortunate names that happen to be sexual euphemisms; Richard Sprinkles, Timothy Scrute, and Vlad Jakov.

The work came out of frustration that modern art seemed to need a breathe of fresh air and not take itself so seriously (myself included). I feel that sometimes the best solution for the world’s problems is just to have a laugh. Thus, my main intention in making this work is to show the absurdity of our current culture, but also just to make people smile and have a laugh. It is also sometimes intentionally awkward; I think it is important to address the growing toxicity of people being “uncomfortable” in our society. This belief that we have the right to be offended at the smallest juncture, is leading to a society where we don’t discuss issues because of a fear of people being made “uncomfortable”.